Savari could feel her left eye twitching as she read the note at the bottom of Ustengrav. She was already peeved at the Greybeards for sending her on this little adventure, and being jerked around even more was putting her in a bad mood.
Not that she particularly minded traipsing through ruins... that was what she did for a living. The danger involved and the cunning required were what made her feel alive.
But she had proven herself to be this… Dragonborn by Shouting for the Greybeards, absorbing new Words in the dragon tongue, and absorbing the knowledge. She was what they sought. She had jumped through the hoops. Jumping through yet another in order to get the horn from an ancient tomb irked her, not in the least because it meant she had to climb back down the damn mountain, retrieve the horn, then climb back up, give it to the Greybeards and then climb down yet again to resume her normal life.
And now? Someone else was in the mix, having taken the horn ahead of her and was now inviting the Khajiit to go off on another jaunt:
Dragonborn-
I need to speak to you. Urgently.
Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you.
-A friend
Friend. Of course. Because I'm going to immediately trust a note in a ruin leading me to an inn to wait.
The Khajiit was no fool. She had seen how half of the Draugr here had been killed already. It was basic adventuring knowledge to know that the ones in armor were the ones who would get up and walk around, with the ones who were naked or nearly so that would remain quiescent. Tucking the note away, she inspected the formerly walking dead a little more closely.
These Draugr had been killed by someone who was proficient with a sword and shield. The stab wounds were evident. Cautious probing about the torso and face revealed the caved in ribcages and crushed jawbones of one who had been brutally beaten off with a hard, blunt object… likely a shield.
Savari steepled her fingers, her claws making a sound like the clapping of clam shells against one another as she thoughtfully drummed them together. The Sleeping Giant Inn… Run by a woman named Delphine and a man named Orgnar. She had stopped in that building a time or two in the past…. with Daryn.
Right. Skyrim was a haven of places full of memories with her partner. She couldn't let those prevent her from doing what she must. But oh, it was hard. Swallowing a wince, Savari decided that she would scout first, then ask for the attic room later.
.
Savari ordered a hot meal as she entered the inn and sat by the fire to warm up. Riverwood was experiencing a miserably cold rain, complete with torrential downpours, flashes of lightning and crackling growls of thunder. No one was about and the inn was empty save for the two who were working in the building. Pretending to be wholly absorbed in her meal, she watched the two people out of the corners of her eyes.
"Orgnar." There was a long pause following Delphine's call. Impatiently, Delphine snapped, "Orgnar! Are you listening?"
Orgnar's lazy voice commented dryly; "Hard not to."
"The ale's going bad." There was another pause, then, even more impatiently, "Did you hear me?"
"Yep. Ale's going bad." The merchant leaned against the counter.
Delphine put her hands on her hips and regarded the man in exasperation. "I guess you don't have potatoes stuck in your ears after all. Just make sure we get a new batch soon."
Savari analyzed the conversation thoughtfully.
Orgnar was a slow spoken, very relaxed man. Not slow to imply stupidity, but just slow like a man used to spending most days doing minimal work. Nothing about him screamed "adventurer" or "fighter."
Delphine now… that woman was blade sharp; quick of thought and action. Savari had noted her insistence on swift response and immediate action; and her impatience with Orgnar's more casual mindset. Unless someone else was lurking outside, somehow listening for a quiet conversation through a closed Inn door, and through rain and thunder, or else hanging about in the rafters- a slow, almost bored sweep of her gaze upward showed that there was no one- then Delphine was the one.
Savari sat back and worked on her bread, alternating bites of cheese to flavor it. As she did so, she took stock of the woman.
Delphine was wearing a simple blue dress that had been poorly made; the stitches weren't concealed in the hems but instead were wide, and obvious. This dress had been made by someone with no knowledge of how to make clothes. And though the cloth covered her arms to hide any muscle tone she had, the woman moved like a fighter; always balanced, with a certain… careful economy of movement. Delphine's disguise stood out like a sore thumb to the Khajiit now that she was paying attention.
Yes, she could see how this woman could be the one who had taken the horn.
Savari approached her and asked for the attic room.
Delphine pretended puzzlement. "Attic room, eh? Well... we don't have an attic room, but you can have the room on the left. Make yourself at home."
The Khajiit waited for Delphine with an expression of annoyance on her face as the woman followed her into the small side room.
"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this." She put the horn in Savari's hands. "We need to talk. Follow me."
Savari's eyes narrowed slightly, but she obeyed; mostly because the woman had given back the horn without any further nonsense.
The woman walked across the main hall of the inn and into a far more spacious room with a wardrobe. That wardrobe turned out to be false, as the back opened to a set of stairs leading to an underground room.
"Now we can talk... The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right." Delphine was looking at Savari keenly.
"The Greybeards are right. I am Dragonborn." Savari crossed her arms and folded her ears back irritably. She was getting thoroughly tired of being questioned.
"I hope so. But you'll forgive me if I don't assume that something's true just because the Greybeards say so." At Savari's icy glower, she pointed out, "I just handed you the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Does that make me Dragonborn, too?"
Reluctantly her tail flicked to the right. The woman did have a point, though she wasn't convinced that the woman's motives were in the Dragonborn's best interests. "What do you want with me?"
"I didn't go to all this trouble on a whim. I needed to make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap." Savari's eyes grew cold. "I am not your enemy. I already gave you the horn." Delphine sounded slightly exasperated, but also a little alarmed at the look in the Khajiit's eyes.
"The fact that you gave the horn back as quickly as you did is why I haven't introduced your back to the wall with my claws at your throat," Savari's expression was not friendly. "I do not appreciate being jerked around, and I don't have patience for those who play games with me or want me to jump through hoops."
"I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out." Delphine pleaded, and she looked a little frantic. "Like I said in my note, I've heard that you might be Dragonborn. I'm part of a group that's been looking for you... well, someone like you, for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn, that is. Before I tell you anything else, I need to make sure I can trust you."
Divines, I miss Daryn. He always was more patient than I. She sighed silently. This woman hasn't even considered that I could just give her a taste of a Shout as proof. A proper 'Fus' would throw her across the room and she wouldn't be asking any more questions about my legitimacy as Dragonborn. Honestly… Out loud she said, "Why are you looking for a Dragonborn in the first place?"
"We remember what most don't, that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragon slayer. You're the only one that can kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul. Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"
Savari blinked. So this woman was well read about the subject at least. That would make her a valuable fount of information. The Khajiit's temper cooled rapidly at the thought of learning more about the way she acquired strange words and sucked power from the dragons she slew. The Greybeards were one source. Who was to say they were the only ones?
"I absorb some kind of power from dragons. That's all I can say." Savari admitted, as if reluctant.
"This is no time to play the reluctant hero. You either are, or aren't, Dragonborn." Delphine retorted impatiently.
Savari raised a brow. "Why? What, exactly, are you not telling me about… all of this?"
"Dragons aren't just coming back. They're coming back to life." Savari went cold, and didn't bother to hide her alarm. Delphine nodded, "They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now, something's happening to bring them back to life. I've visited their ancient burial mounds and found them empty."
Savari's tail swayed thoughtfully, "I take it you've been mapping out which ones are full and which ones are empty?"
Delphine looked relieved that the Khajiit was paying attention, "Yes. I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. If we succeed, I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"A fair deal, then. Where are we headed?"
"Kynesgrove. There's an ancient dragon burial near there. If we can get there before it happens, maybe we'll learn how to stop it."
Kynesgrove... The first town Daryn had taken her to when he had taken her in. Where she had grieved at the loss of her parents. Where the kind Dunmer had taught her how to use her weapons...
The pair took the long run to Kynesgrove together. Sheepishly, Delphine admitted, "I'm glad you were willing to trust me. I know it probably wasn't the best way to introduce myself. But old habits...you know."
Savari grunted but didn't make any further comment. She would reserve further judgement until she had a better grasp on Delphine's character. Her paranoia was understandable considering her enemies were the Thalmor.
The approached the town just in time for a woman to come bolting down the hill toward them in terror. "No! You don't want to go up there! A dragon is attacking!"
"Where is this dragon?" Savari asked.
"It flew over the town and landed on the old dragon burial mound. I don't know what it's doing up there, but I'm not waiting around to find out!"
Delphine and Savari drew their weapons and jogged the rest of the way up the hill.
The black dragon from Helgen was circling above a low mound. Abruptly, he bellowed in a strange tongue, a tongue Savari understood; "Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!" ["Sahloknir, I bind your dragon spirit for eternity!"] Hin slen fent kos vokrii! [Your flesh shall be restored!] Slen tiid vo! ["Flesh Time Undo!"]
The earth exploded upward and a skeletal form surged up, shedding massive chunks of dirt from its regenerating hide. Flesh clothed the beast in a matter of a few heartbeats, and it tilted its head upward toward the black dragon.
Reverently, Sahloknir called, "Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" ["Alduin, my lord! Has the time come to revive our ancient realm?"]
The black dragon, Alduin, replied, "Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir." ["Yes, Sahloknir, my Champion."]
Suddenly Alduin turned his head and stared at the Khajiit with blazing red eyes."Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi." ["So, you are Dragonborn? I see none of the dragonkind in you."]
Savari curled her lip at the dismissive way the beast referred to her. The expression was apparently too subtle, for he repeated in Cyrodilic, "You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."
Turning back toward Sahloknir, who was watching with lazy interest, "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre." [Sahloknir, kill these mortals.]
Savari whipped her bow out and sighted along a daedric arrow as Alduin pulled back and turned away from the hilltop without a backward glance. The two pronged arrow flew straight and true, striking Alduin's flanks… only to bounce off his scales and drop to the ground some distance away. It hadn't even scratched his armor.
Well that was depressing. Savari thought, diving behind a tree as Alduin soared into the distance and Sahloknir opened his jaws and unleashed a blast of flame at the Khajiit.
The battle with Sahloknir was long and difficult, but this dragon at least, eventually fell to Savari's arrows.
As the beast crashed to the ground, Delphine sounded excited and pleased, "I'll be damned, you did it! That was well done. Come on. I've been wanting a closer look at one of these buggers."
Savari followed the Breton with dry amusement, and once she got close enough, the beast's carcass suddenly lit in magical flames that rapidly consumed his newly regenerated flesh. Light swirled up from the carcass, gathered around the Khajiit and was absorbed.
"Gods above!" Delphine was struck nearly speechless, stuttering, "So you really are... It... it's true, isn't it? You really are Dragonborn. I owe you some answers, don't I? Go ahead. Whatever you want to know. Nothing held back."
Not bothering to hide her weary smirk of satisfaction at the Breton's acknowledgement of her identity, she began to question Delphine. She learned about the Blades, and the Thalmor… the damned Thalmor were cropping up yet again in the middle of things… and about how the Empire faced destruction at the Altmer's hands. Much of it she already knew, but it was good to hear her information confirmed.
She and Delphine parted ways, and the Khajiit returned to Whiterun.